This fall, as part of the Documentation and Interpretation course in Pratt Institute’s Historic Preservation program, five graduate students (including myself) were given a project that involved researching five of New York’s public housing developments on the Lower East Side. We were each assigned one site that included the Smith Houses, the LaGuardia Houses, the Baruch Houses, the Wald Houses, and Jacob Riis Houses. The project had two objectives: one was to provide research and consultation for the New York Environmental Law and Justice Project (NYELJP) who, in November, brought a lawsuit against the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) in an attempt to stop their recently proposed Land Lease plan.

Much of the blame for the failures of the American urban renewal era was placed on the Modernist architects who designed the redevelopment schemes. The Hyde Park A & B Urban Renewal Project designed by I.M. Pei and Harry Weese & Associates is an example of a redevelopment that has integrated into its surrounding neighborhood by responding to its historic context.

December is quickly approaching, which means it is time for the annual Docomomo US Holiday Book List. This year's list features a number of must-have books soon to become classics. Best yet, every purchase originating from the Docomomo US website is a small gift to us, via our partnership with Amazon Associates.

In June 2013 Docomomo US featured an article on the plight of Edward Durell Stone’s (1966-67) World Trade Center in New Orleans. The former International Trade Mart Building was in danger of being demolished while the city was considering three proposals concerning the redevelopment of the building and site, a situation more and more mid-century commercial buildings are encountering as they are considered out-of-date and left vacant. However, hotels like Starwood’s W and Aloft brands have started to target mid-century commercial buildings, like The World Trade Center, for redevelopment rather than going the route of new construction.

Docomomo US and Houston Mod are pleased to announce the second annual Docomomo US National Symposium will take place in Houston, Texas from March 13-15, 2014. Save the dates for what will be a lively and surprising context for the examination of modernism's legacy, and consideration of its future, in Houston and in Texas. Early registration and accommodation information can now be found on the National Symposium website.

On a recent trip to Albany, New York, I stumbled upon a gem of mid-century architecture: the former Adirondack Trailways Bus Station. Handsome and thoroughly functional in its form with bus bays nestled under a supported second floor waiting room, the building, even in its abandoned state, looks to be in surprisingly good condition and spirit. Built at the same time as the well-documented Empire State Plaza (Harrison & Abramovitz, 1959-1972), there seems to be very little information on the terminal’s opening date, design or architects. Wondering what other mid-century bus terminals might still be out there, I asked the writers of the Midcentury Mundane blog to help me find some of those remainders and look at the highlights of long-distance bus terminals.

Unlike suburban schools, the public schools constructed in the years following World War II in Manhattan were designed to accommodate the specific challenges and needs of the urban environment. These schools, now of preservation age, continue to be underappreciated resources.

The Lewis and Clark Branch Library, completed in 1963, was once the pride of the St. Louis County Library system. Designed by architect Frederick Dunn, FAIA with stunning stained glass windows by master artist Robert Harmon, it was constructed as part of a progressive mid-century building program which sought to re-envision libraries in the postwar era. Yet today, as it celebrates its fiftieth birthday, the building’s future hangs in the balance under the threat of demolition.